Idyl

Idyl (Greek, “little picture”), short poem that deals with rural scenery, beauty, and tranquility. Idyl is often used as a synonym for pastoral. The 10 famous idyls by the Greek Theocritus became the models for idyls written in later centuries. Selections from the Bible, such as the Song of Songs, are considered idyls. Many British poets of the 16th and 17th centuries wrote pastoral poems; John Milton's Lycidas is an example of one of the finest idyls from this time period.